Nokia Lumia 1520

Windows Phone 10 or, as it's otherwise known, Windows 10 for phones, will be hitting the Technical Preview soon. Good news for those of you with the HTC One M8 for Windows, Lumia 1020, and Lumia 1520 is that it would appear that the first line of devices to gain access to the Technical Preview will be - well - you. This won't be the exclusive list of devices to get the Windows 10 Technical Preview, of course - there'll be lower-end devices to get the update as well.

The awaited update to Nokia's, now Microsoft's, Lumia smartphones have just started rolling out, somewhat ahead of expected schedule. Formerly called Nokia Denim and now just Lumia Denim, the update brings in the latest version of Windows Phone 8.1 (update 1) to the devices, along with a bunch of Microsoft's own new features. For the more photography capable models, such as the Lumia 830, Lumia 930, Lumia Icon, and Lumia 1520, the update brings in some tasty treats for them as well.

You can say what you want about Microsoft's mobile platform, but apparently, Windows Phone is a rather tough nut to crack. This revelation came on the second day of HP's Pwn2Own hacking contest, with this round targeting browsers of mobile devices. One contestant tried to gain control of the phone by attacking the browser but ultimately failed to break through the sandbox. That said, there was still some access gained, so Windows Phone didn't completely emerge unscathed, surviving with just some war wounds and probably a bit of pride.

This week the most powerful camera phone on the planet - so to speak - has recieved a software update from Microsoft. The Nokia Lumia 1020 with its beastly back-facing camera will be rolling with Lumia Black, the newest in Nokia-based Windows Phone software - as soon as this afternoon for users across the United States. The firmware piece of this equation appears - for now - to be hitting the Lumia 1520.

The rumored Thanksgiving release date for the Lumia 929 from Nokia has come and gone, and now we're seeing a new possible release date. This time word has it the 5" phone will be released in mid- to late December. There's also new photographic evidence of the phone's existence.

You're to blame for the vast Nokia Lumia 1520. "Make a phablet" we kept asking Nokia, "give us a big Windows Phone to compete with the Galaxy Note." That Nokia - and Microsoft - went off to the drawing board and returned with a hand-dominating 6-inch monster is a juicy sort of irony, then: this is a Lumia that not only comes in larger than just about every other smartphone on the market, it could be considered a small tablet in its own right. Problem is, there's a difference between a big phone and a great one, so has Nokia done more than enlarge Lumia? Read on for our full review.

You asked for a big Windows Phone, and Nokia is delivering just that with the Lumia 1520. Headed to AT&T imminently, the 6-inch phablet not only bears the biggest screen on a recent Nokia, but the fastest processor ever inside a Windows Phone, the highest display resolution, and what's arguably the most rational compromise of camera quality in the company's well-esteemed PureView system. With review units only released late last week, we're still getting to grips with the Lumia 1520's charms, but there's still time for some first-impressions of how this new flagship measures up.

Update: The YouTube video was removed by the user, moments after we published this post; we have therefore removed the embedded player for now. Anybody care to leak another version?

Update: Thanks to an anonymous commenter, we have another version of the video for you in-line.

A photo and video of the yet-to-be-released Nokia Lumia 929 has been leaked by WPCentral forum member Falorin. The Windows Phone device appears scuffed and marked up, indicating Falorin has had it in his possession and been using it for some time now. The leak is a welcome sight for Lumia fans who were disappointed to find it did not appear as expected at Nokia World 2013 in Abu Dhabi last week.

Nokia's new flagship Lumia 1520 is big news and a big phone. The company's first "phablet" Windows Phone, it marks the debut of official 1080p screen support in version 8.1 of Microsoft's platform, not to mention a further distillation of Nokia's investment into PureView camera technology down into the mass market. It's also the device that Nokia hopes will rival top-tier iPhone and Android handsets that, so far, it has struggled to compete with. Plenty of high expectations, then, but does the Lumia 1520 live up to them? Read on for our first impressions.